Good morning everyone - I hope you're enjoying this wonderful Thanksgiving season! While the retail world is cranking into high-gear for the holidays, real estate is starting to slow down...but perhaps not by much. As of November 17, we had just 2,330 homes for sale and 4,112 homes under contract in Central Ohio. That's about a 3-week supply of inventory based on both this year's average and seasonally-adjusted numbers from last November. In other words, there's more buyers than homes, which is driving prices higher.
Last month, the average sale price per square foot was $165.31 compared to just $149.64 a year ago. Amazing! However, this is the lowest it's been since April and nearly $7 short of its peak in July.
Similarly, days on market remain incredibly low with the average home selling in just 15 days compared to 19 days last year; but this is still a bit higher than the 11 day averages we saw in June, July, and August. So are things slowing down?
Kind of...but we interpret this slowdown to be seasonal and on par with seasonal slowdowns from previous years. While in some markets (even in Ohio) the slowdown is trending faster than that of previous years, this is likely due to the low home inventory levels, which are down about 18% right now.
All that to say, the weeks between Thanksgiving and New Years are INCREDIBLY slow in the world of real estate. After all, who wants to sell their home during the holidays? For buyers, this presents a once-a-year opportunity to get some deals from sellers who need to move. But while opportunities may be had, they are rare, so anyone who needs to sell this holiday season shouldn't be in bad shape. While it's not the peak of the market, we're not too far off.
As always, if you have any questions about real estate, please don't hesitate to reach out. I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season!